For the first time, the government is releasing detailed data about Medicare payments to doctors. The information allows comparisons by physician, specialty, location, types of medical service and procedures delivered, submitted charges and Medicare payment. 

The data reveal ophthalmology  as the second most expensive provider type. The data showed there are 17,067 ophthalmologists nationwide, earning an average Medicare payment of $327,239 for a total of $5,585 million in 2012. The data also reported 25,500 optometrists, earning an average Medicare payment of $26,667 for a total of $680 million in 2012. 

The data also showed that a majority of Medicare spending is concentrated among a small fraction of doctors. The New York Times analyzed the highest paid two percent of specialties and ophthalmology was number one in terms of cost. In the example given, about 3,300 ophthalmologists were paid a total of $3.3 billion from Medicare. According to newspaper reports, some of the high cost in ophthalmology can be attributed to doctors choosing Lucentis instead of Avastin to treat a form of macular degeneration. While this data explains some of the cost, it's still fair to say that treatments from an ophthalmologist are relatively expensive. 

COA and AOA staff members are delving deep into the data and will report any interesting or useful information to our membership. 

Click here to view the physician dataset from CMS. The Wall Street Journal has an easy-to-use search feature on its website.

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